SC cracked down on ‘We Buy Houses’ businesses, but they persist. Here’s what to know

Those “We Buy Houses” signs posted around South Carolina often lead to real estate wholesalers, not direct buyers — and sellers don’t always benefit from the deals. State lawmakers passed a law in 2024 restricting the practice, but some companies are finding ways around it.

FULL STORY: Are those ‘We Buy Houses’ businesses around SC regulated — or worth it? Here’s what we found

Here are key takeaways:

• Home sellers who call the numbers on those signs often end up in contracts with wholesalers who never actually take ownership of the home.

• People targeted by wholesalers are frequently facing a crisis. “Oftentimes, property owners who enter into these wholesale agreements do so because they’re facing a catastrophic life event, like a foreclosure, divorce or a death in the family,” said Leslie Peters, a closing attorney at Boger & Peters, LLC in Columbia.

• South Carolina lawmakers passed a 2024 law classifying many wholesaling activities as licensed brokerage work, restricting how the practice operates. Some wholesalers left the state because the new rules made it too difficult to do business, according to Andrew Lucas, co-owner of Columbia Cash Home Buyers.

• Some companies are still finding workarounds. Prospective buyers can still transfer their contracts to another person.

• Lucas said fewer wholesalers competing for properties could mean lower offers for sellers. “Fewer people are going after your house, which means your house’s price is going to go down,” he said.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.

This story was originally published April 1, 2026 at 5:30 AM.